PREPARATION OF THE CLAY
Geoponica, II, 49.
3. It is most necessary for every reason to have potters (on a farm), since we are convinced that it is possible to find potter’s clay on any land; for either on the surface, or deep down, or in out-of-the-way places on the land you will find earth suitable for making pottery.
3. Ἀναγκαιότατον δὲ καὶ κεραμέας ἔχειν πάντων ἕνεκα, πεπεισμένον ὅτι ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν κεραμικὴν γῆν, ἢ γὰρ ἐπιπολάσιον, ἢ ἐν βάθει, ἢ ἐν ἀποκεκρυμμένοις μέρεσι καὶ τόποις τοῦ χωρίου ἐπιτηδείαν γῆν πρὸς κατασκευὴν κεράμων εὑρήσεις.
The abundance of clay on Greek soil must have helped the manufacture of the many local varieties before Athens obtained the monopoly in the sixth century B.C.
Geoponica, VI, 3.
On making pithoi
1. Not all earth is suitable for pottery, but with regard to potter’s clay, some prefer the yellowish red, some the white, and others mix the two. 2. Some in judging of a well-made pithos are satisfied if, when struck, it gives forth a sharp, clear sound. 3. That, however, is not enough, but the person in charge ought to be present while the work is going on, and see to it that the clay has been well worked, and not let it be put on the wheel before the clay shows what sort of pot it will make when fired.
περὶ κατασκευῆς πίθων
1. Γῆ οὐ πᾶσα ἐπιτήδειος πρὸς κεραμείαν, ἀλλὰ τῆς κεραμίτιδος γῆς οἱ μὲν προκρίνουσι τὴν πυρρὰν τὸ χρῶμα, οἱ δὲ τὴν λευκήν, οἱ δὲ ἀμφοτέρας συμμιγνύουσι. 2. Τινὲς μὲν οὖν ἀρκοῦνται ἐν τῇ δοκιμασίᾳ τοῦ καλῶς κεκεραμευμένου πίθου, τῷ κρουσθέντα αὐτὸν ἀποδοῦναι ἦχόν τινα ὀξὺν καὶ πορόν. 3. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο αὔταρκες, ἀλλὰ χρῆ τὸν κατασκευάζοντα παρεῖναι τῇ κεραμείᾳ, καὶ ὅπως ὁ πηλὸς καλῶς εἰργασμένος εἴη προνοῆσαι, καὶ μὴ πρὶν ἐᾶσαι ἐπὶ τὸν τροχὸν ἀναβιβάσαι, πρὶν τὸν πηλὸν διαδεῖξαι ὁποῖος ἔσται ὁ πίθος ὀπτηθείς.
Good potters were evidently well aware, then as now, of the importance of the right composition and consistency of their clay. It is also interesting to note that potters in modern Athens still regularly use a mixture of red and white clay (cf. [p. 40, note 2]).
Sophokles, Fragments, 438.
First begin to work the clay with your hands.
Καὶ πρῶτον ἄρχου πηλὸν ὀργάξειν χερσῖν.
Hesychius, Lexicon, s. v. ὀργάσαι.
ὀργάσαι: to make ready; or as is said, to knead the clay, which is to prepare it, to mix it, to wet it, to work it into a plastic mass.
ὀργάσαι· ἑτοιμάσαι, καὶ τὸν πηλὸν ὀργάσαι φασίν, ὅ ἐστιν ἑτοίμασαι, φυρᾶσαι, βρέξαι, ἀνάδευσαι.
Ὀργάσαι in other words was the Greek expression for wedging the clay and getting it ready for throwing.